Transcript Stingless bees - IFES Symposium on Climate Change

STINGLESS BEES AND CLIMATE
CHANGE
Peter Kwapong
Department of Entomology and Wildlife
University of Cape Coast
Ghana
Overview
 Introduction
 Stingless bees and their importance
 How stingless bees are impacted by human activities
 The result: Climate change
 Effects on bees
 Conservation of stingless bees and how they can
mitigate climate change
Introduction
 God created the earth
 God entrusted the earth to man to manage on His
terms
 Man decides he will manage it on his own term
 Man mismanages the earth.
 Consequence of Climate change its impact on man and
biodiversity
 God wants us to return to him and reason together
 Stingless bees role in pollination and hive products
 Stingless bees role in biodiversity conservation and
sustenance of livelihood.
Stingless bees
 Social bees and live together in colonies with a queen,





workers (females), and drones (males).
They store medicinal honey and other hive products such
as propolis.
They pollinate flowering plants in both agricultural and
natural landscapes.
Pollination service results in quality and quantity fruit and
seeds
Contribute to natural habitats and biodiversity
conservation
Provide primary health care to lots of rural communities
through the use of their hive products in treating various
ailments.
Man’s activity and stingless bees
 Stingless bees inhabit cavities of trees and logs
 Through logging and lumbering nests are destroyed
 Through bush burning and slash and burn methods of
farming populations and colonies of stingless bees
are threatened
 Since stingless bees are the main pollinators of various
flowering plants, any poisoning with insecticide sprays
will affect their populations.
 Unsustainable harvesting of stingless bees honey by
the use of fire and also exposing the bees pose threat
to their survival.
Climate change and stingless bees
 Forest trees no longer available for nesting
 Forage is scarce
 Population decline due to drought
 Bees species will drive to extinction
 The Eclipse of the Sun 29 March 2006
 Bees at hive entrances
 Bees at forage sites
Stingless bee Project
 Work with rural communities to establish ISBC
 Collect and rescue stingless bees native to Ghana
 Multiply and carry out research for use in pollinations
services and hive product development
 Create awareness to Africa and the world for their
utilization against climate change
 Stingless bees can help sustain livelihood and conserve
biodiversity.
Thanks
and
God bless you